The Nexus Wars
The Nexus Wars Cronos’ Downfall. The nexus wars are a series of wars that took place in the last 2nd Century early 3rd century in southern Pentaamicis. while it took several years for all the events to play out the eventual end to the conflict ended in the annexation of Vers En and Garrix into Pentaamicis. This story ends when the greed and ambition of one man became greater than his ability to defend himself when he poked the wrong bear. The first nexus war was between Garrix and Vers En but as all conflicts it didn't start as a war between two peaceful cities. It started as a simple duel between Cronos and Sycorax, the ruler of Garrix. the duel ended when Cronos pulled some trickery on Sycorax. It ended when he was banished to the End by an enchanted Sword that was the Great sword of Vers En. Cronos needed Sycorax out of the way to declare Vers En the Nexus of the area. The Nexus is the heart of any given region, but usually the title is also given to the capitol of a region too. for example Veridia is the capitol of Pentaamicis and the Nexus of the Central sea and Country. whereas the region is only made up of a few city states, there was no central capital. Cronos was a self proclaimed Champion of Vers En. Yes he was the greatest man to ever come from the city but he wasn’t ordained by a child of Cloudbreaker and therefore he didn't have the powers and abilities and qualifications of the other champions who would eventually be his downfall. While the fist Nexus war didn't end in some spectacular battle or a decisive victory for either side it did end when one side managed an unexpected victory. when Sycorax was Warped to the End, The city of Garrix revolted. The city disregarded Cronos’ claim of nexus and themselves declared Garrix the nexus and Sent forth the Knights of Martin to storm Vers En and kill Cronos. The knights laid seige on the city but were met with Cronos’ wife; who was a vastly superior warrior than her husband. This woman, whose name has been lost to us despite it only happening a few hundred years ago, fell in battle that day when she was overwhelmed by Martin knights. the rest of the knights that had followed Cronos’ wife fell that day too, and the martin knights we’re met with any more resistance after the last Vers Eni knights fell. Satisfied that they got a good enough prize as retribution for Sycorax, the Garrix forces returned to their city. The conclusion of the first Nexus war wasn't as climactic as the others, but it was just as important because it set in motion the events of the remaining 4 wars that would change the region forever. The second Nexus war started shortly after the first one ending: only a few weeks passed before Cronos reacted. In a fit of rage one night Cronos fled his city and rode his horse to the Gates of Garrix with a handful of his knights and singlehandedly took down one of the floating districts of the city. by the time the destruction had happened and the smoke begun to clear Cronos had left the city and returned to Vers En. Besides the few guards stationed at the gates of the city the 7 men hadn’t been met with any resistance from the city, thus making it very easy for the distraught man to do the damage he did. After the conflict ended Garrix managed to rebuild and clean up their city, but just without one of their floating districts. Many Martins died that night, but still to Cronos, it wasn't enough as you’ll discover. The third Nexus war was the longest of the 5 wars and resulted in much damage to both sides of the conflict. After the destruction causes by Cronos during the last war, Garrix wanted to bring down Vers En after all the damage they’ve caused to the city. the entire army of Garrix marched on Vers En and for two years they laid siege on Cronos. Before the tre boo shay and catapults could be erected and the city be stormed the protective barrier of Vers Eni legend went up over the city and prevented anyone entering or leaving. After the dome went up the city was cut off, but that same protective barrier didn't protect the Sky Port. Port Lexus burned that day. All ships at moorings in the city burned that day, the ones that didn't manage to escape. Martin soldiers brought down every docking tower, these same towers would never be fully rebuilt for at least a century afterwards. Garrix forces occupied the city for 2 years and ended up building a defensive wall completely around the city around the Dome. after the dome went up around the city that stopped anyone from outside from getting in, but it also stopped anyone from inside gettings out. The goal was to starve the people of Vers En and they managed to come close, but that never ended up happening. During the occupation Martin workers built up stones to cover the dome in its entirety. The point to the stone built up was to block out the sun for the people inside the dome and to stop the growth of any crops inside the city. Also if at some point the dome would fall so would all that stone onto the city. To someone looking for the city all they would have found was an army defending a wall around a giant stone half sphere. The third Nexus war came to an anticlimactic end when swindor threatened to intervene. The next city to the east sent an envoy with their champion to end the siege. The Martins didn't really have a choice but to end the conflict. while the inner defences of the martin forces around Vers En they forgot to fortify the rear guard. This inevitable end of the third Nexus was was bound to come, and just like that, the Garrix forces packed up their camps and returned to their city. Cronos on the inside of the dome of rock was eventually notified by the Swindor Champion when he found a tunnel that lead under the dome and into the city. the Martin revenge hadn't been felt yet because the dome that protected the city would eventually fall. And on that fateful day a few weeks after the occupation ended, the dome did retract and with it the whole mass of stone that was placed on top of the city came crumbling down onto Vers En. Much of the city was destroyed but Cronos and the people of Vers En managed to rebuild the city to its previous luster. This was would be the last time that Vers En would be Attacked but not the last of the Nexus wars. some chroniclers of Pentaamicis history have said that the Fourth Nexus war is the least important of the five, but to understand why the fighting in the end stopped you must understand the culmination of all the conflicts between all egos and personalities that make this story interesting. while the 4th war didn't happen between the two great cities of Vers En and Garrix it did take place between their navies on the Hidden Bay. This short battle was the fight for a small mining village with the valuable resources that were extracted from its depths. it’s been lost to us, which side started the battle but in the end neither side won. it was a stalemate. Ships From the Veridian Navy, stationed at the Winter palace, were sent to retake the Old Mines from the two opposing forces. While the two navies of southern Pentaamicis fought over the profits of the mines, they forgot that neither of then owned the mines in the first place. Monomoy was the rightful owner of the mines and they sent ships to protect their land and people. In the end the Veridian Navy drove off the two invaders. but this was a growing concern of the powers around the two warring cities, that while this was a small piece of land that they were fighting over who would take possession of, the fear was that they would eventually fight over a greater prize that a few old mines in a frozen wasteland. This brings us neatly into the beginning of the 5th and final Nexus was only a few months later. This was was the longest and bloodiest of the five wars and also the most important. At wars end the region would finally know peace for it would turn out to be the catalyst for the two angry and bitter cities to finally grow each other instead of taring themselves apart. The final war between Vers En and Garrix started when in another fit of rage Cronos took his Knights as well as his Whole mounted army and stormed Garrix. the outer barrier walls were all destroyed, every house was torched and any citizen found inside the city was killed. the deaths of almost 25,000 civilians were accounted for that day, that number doesn't include the many people who fled the city and ran into the desert and mountains trying to get away who died of exposer. Something awoke inside Cronos that day and someone gave him the powers only a god knows. He brought the city down unto itself. the remaining floating districts fell that day; smashing most of the city into oblivion. If Cronos has just left Garrix in ruins that day he would still be ruling Vers En and would be the true Nexus of the southern Reaches. But no, Cronos got greedy and took his army and headed north. with him along with his knights and his mounted army, he also called for his standing army to follow him north. Cronos tried to Storm The Reserve, which was the newly constructed gold reserve fortress of Pentaamicis. the reserve had something that Cronos could not defend against. Airships. in the last Nexus was Airships were the downfall of both sides but this time they were solely used to throwback Cronos and defend the territory of Veridia and her allies. Cronos’ standing Army was defeated that day. just one day after bringing Garrix down onto itself and the same day they marched out the gates of Vers En. the small fleet of airships of the Veridian Navy cut down the ranks of Cronos’s army. but he wasn't done with his failing conquest yet. surprisingly Cronos wasn't at the Reserve with his army, for he was actually with his mounted army. the had ridden past the reserve and headed further north towards West Chop and Haverhill. A small division of knights were found outside the gates of Swindor the east of the Reserve. That small group of warriors died that day as well, being taken down singlehandedly by the City Champion of Swindor: Lady Magnolia. When Cronos himself rode up the bridge of Haverhill he was met with a barrage of arrows and enchanted spells. by this time word had gotten to Veridia, Kilarney, and Orono. Cronos had invaded the territory of Pentaamicis and was now trying to take the Grand Library. The wardens of Pentaamicis, or what was left of the original wardens, came together to fight Cronos and take back their lands. Lord Tav would take the Veridian Army around the central sea to the West and bring it down trapping the invaders on the doorstep of Haverhill with Lord Force coming from the East with the Bulk of the Veridian Navy from Orono. Lady Hiltz, Champion of Exmouth, along with the Vitrions of Orono blocked the path to the east. the three wardens of Pentaamicis each a champion in their own right came together and defeated the champion of no god. That day would turn out to be one of the biggest successes in Pentaamicis history, for its that day that the southern portion of the country came under the control of Veridia. Cronos was defeated in the steps of Haverhill when the full weight of Pentaamicis was pressed down upon him. The defeated King was places in an Ender Prison beneath Haverhill where he sits today. The fates of the cities that warred for over a century is basically how they started, Cronos never got to see his city become the southern capitol. although it never became the Nexus because when the city was forced to join Pentaamicis the Nexus was already Veridia. As for Garrix the city was rebuilt, but without the Floating districts that gave it the fame it had before. Both defeated cities are subservient of Veridia, the one true capitol of Pentaamicis. they were also forced to recognize Pentaamicis as the true son of Cloudbreaker as punishment. Sycorax and Cronos never got the chance to see their cities flourish again but somewhere maybe some day they both might rise from the ashes of their defeats to rule their cities once more.